A16z Introduces Cicada: Anonymously Secure Voting for Ethereum

Venture capital fund Andreessen Horowitz (A16z) has introduced Cicada

a Solidity library for anonymous voting on Ethereum. The library utilizes time-lock puzzles to encrypt votes until balloting concludes. By incorporating zero-knowledge group membership systems like Semaphore, Cicada also ensures permanent voter anonymity. To address challenges of encoding choices in a fair voting system, voters must submit zero-knowledge proofs of ballot validity. Although votes become decipherable after the poll closes, combining Cicada with zero-knowledge group membership systems mitigates this issue. This move toward more democratic voting systems aims to prevent governance attacks in decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs).